What Ged saw was bizarre.

In front of him, an array of body parts hovered in the air.

They all belonged to a single person, connected by a single soul sprout thread that ran through the center of each piece, holding them together like a marionette under an unseen controller.

Even the three ribs protruding from his chest were bound to this thread.

With a sharp tug, the ribs tore free from Ged’s body.

As he staggered, the floating body parts loomed and began to merge, coalescing into a single coherent shape.

He keeled over, pressing against the wound in a desperate attempt to stem the bleeding, yet his gaze never wavered from the grotesque sight before him.

Once the pieces were fully assembled, the horrifying truth became clear.

"Gore… what the hell am I looking at?" Ged muttered, eyes narrowing in disbelief.

"I didn't want it to be this way," Gore replied. "If only you hadn't seen what you saw, you could have lived another day."

Ged’s expression darkened.

What has Gore become? How could he still be considered alive when he can pull his body apart like that? Uncertainty washed over him as he wracked his brain for a way to deal with the nightmarish figure before him.

Attempting to set up a Peg with his soul sprout, he looked for an opportunity to turn the tide, but Gore was already ahead of him.

Gore's soul sprout erupted from his body like a cannon, twisting into the form of a knife. In a single swift motion, he slashed through Ged's extended soul sprout, severing it completely. Against the unfathomable being before him, his fate was all but sealed.

Ged gritted his teeth, trying to hold himself together, his mind and body in unbearable pain. The effects of soul misalignment surged through him, causing him to falter.

He struggled to stand.

He could no longer fight. His only option was to reason with him.

"Gore, I am not lying to you," Ged said, his voice strained with exasperation. "I didn’t look up from the exit, I didn't see anything I wasn't supposed to. I have no interest in whatever is inside here, nor whatever secret you are hiding from me about your identity."

"This isn’t necessary, Gore. You don’t have to go so far and kill me. We've known each other for years, you know I wouldn't tell a soul about any of this."

Gore remained silent, his expression unreadable.

Then, his body tore itself apart, his soul thread unraveling his flesh into a swirling mass. The chaotic motion coalesced, reshaping itself into an enormous, Gore-sized fist that hovered in the air like a specter.

Two bulging eyes surfaced on the hand’s exterior.

"Ged, you can’t hide it from me. I see it in your eyes. You’ve made a connection with the Peak." Gore’s voice was deep and sinister.

Ged frowned, unable to respond.

"It’s a shame, Ged. I really was hoping to spare you. But now… I have no choice," Gore sighed, his tone turned demonic. "I must devour your eyes and scatter your soul across space-time."

Ged's eyes widened.

The Gore-hand lunged forward.

Ged tried to dodge, but Gore was too fast.

The monstrous fist clamped around him, squeezing until he could no longer move.

His body screamed with pain. Desperate, he scanned the room, his mind racing. What was Gore talking about? What is the Peak? What had I seen?

From within the massive hand, an amalgamation of flesh and bones emerged, forming a pair of chattering mouths with the writhing bodies of fleshy eels. Each eel twisted and snapped hungrily, ready to devour his eyes.

Methodically, they slithered across the Gore-hand, inching closer to his face.

Then it hit him.

The insect!

His mind flashed back to the strange, buzzing insect he had killed without a second thought. It was the only thing he could think of. The only thing Gore might not have wanted him to see.

The chattering eels were just inches away from his face.

Ged scrambled through his memories, recalling the moment he had glanced at his palm.

But back then… he had seen nothing.

What was I not supposed to see?

Frantic, he replayed the image in his mind.

The eels loomed in front of him, their mouths opening wide.

A speck of green.

There was a single, distant speck of green in the center of his palm.

The image lingered in his mind. He focused every ounce of his being on it. In front of him, the speck of green sharpened, as if reality itself was drawing him toward it.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Like a moth to a flame, he was pulled in.

The world around him blurred.

His consciousness was ripped from his body, drawn at unimaginable speeds toward the distant green speck.

His awareness faded to black as he was flung into a distant realm beyond space and time.

As his mind drifted through the void, elsewhere, an event was just beginning to unfold...

***

In a realm far removed from reality, on the white deserts of pure nothingness,

a strange, shape-shifting entity walked.

With each step, his form shifted through a variety of animals. One moment he was a bear, the next a warthog, until, on the eleventh step, he assumed his true form.

He was humanoid in shape, but something was profoundly wrong. The top half of his head was missing, replaced by a dazzling, hovering orange sun that crowned him in a blinding glow.

He halted, arms raised high into the air.

In response, the sky twisted and contorted. Strange purple thunderclouds gathered, releasing ominous streaks of black lightning.

At the heart of the storm, looming above, was the bottom of an impossibly vast green sphere.

"I am known as Guul," he thundered toward the sphere.

"I have mastered the shapes of eleven animals and perfected the forms of three hundred plants. My name is feared across the land. Among my peers, I stand unmatched. In my home region, I am unrivaled.

"But still, I am lost."

"These days, I cannot find a path forward."

"I seek answers."

"Guide me."

"Point me in the right direction."

"How do I reach the Peak?"

A single bolt of black lightning struck, crashing into Guul with the force of total annihilation.

He did not flinch in the face of the destruction. Instead, the lifeless body of a bear collapsed at his feet, shed like old skin from his bizarre figure.

Above, the green sphere seemed to step ever so slightly closer, yet it remained impossibly distant.

Guul laughed maniacally.

"More!" The sun atop his head burned a deep, furious red. "Show me more! I must know what I am lacking!"

The thunder in the sky grew fierce.

Obliging the man's request, the sky unleashed a barrage of ten black streaks of lightning upon him.

With each strike, an animal corpse fell out of his body.

For the first time, Guul staggered. But his expression remained firm, his eyes locked defiantly on the storming heavens.

"I must improve!" He roared.

"I do not fear death!"

"I only fear stagnation."

"Kill me if you must. But before I go, please just tell me..."

"What is the path one has to take to reach the Peak?" His voice fell to a whisper.

The sky seethed and swirled with hatred over the question.

The clouds tore apart, revealing a colossal purple spear.

It descended with terrifying speed.

Time slowed.

The spear hovered inches from Guul’s face.

His expression remained neutral.

The green sphere lurched forward revealing more of its incredible form.

In that moment, before death could claim him, his wish was granted.

And in that instant, he saw it—the path to the Peak

A beam of light cascaded down from the green sphere, stretching across the sky in an unfathomable arc.

Within that beam, drifting unaware, was the consciousness of Ged, who was being transported toward the distant green sphere.

Guul, his voice hoarse, stared at Ged’s form with reverence and understanding.

"So that is the way to reach the Peak… I am so jealous..."

These were the last words he spoke.

The purple spear completed its descent, annihilating him, body and soul.

On the white sand, not even a corpse remained.

Guul was no more.

***

A gentle breeze stirred, awakening Ged’s awareness to the world around him. The touch of soft grass enveloped his ethereal body, flooding him with an indescribable sense of comfort.

The sounds of nature resonated in a soothing rhythm as he rose from the ground.

The world around him was unimaginably lush.

"What is this place?" he murmured, speechless at the sight before him. "Did I die? Is this the afterlife?"

A limitless expanse of nature stretched in every direction.

Plants grew ceaselessly around him. Some grew across the ground, weaving intricate patterns, while others stretched only skywards.

Despite the dense greenery, nothing obstructed his steps. The plants seemed aware of him, parting naturally to make way, as if acknowledging his presence and yielding to his movement.

Suddenly, an inexplicable urge surged within him.

Stopping in place, he went to confirm something.

Opening his mouth wide, he felt the surrounding foliage stream effortlessly into him, flowing down his throat and fusing into his body.

It was an incredible sensation.

Ged felt his consciousness expand outward without limit. All he had to do was open his mouth, and his body would grow.

His form swelled, expanding at unfathomable speeds. The towering trees that once shaded him now seemed like mere blades of grass beneath his toes.

He looked over his new body with growing curiosity.

He was perfect.

Powerful physique. Flawless musculature. He had it all.

"The perfect body," Ged whispered, gazing at his ethereal arms, his biceps sculpted to pristine precision. "Have I actually achieved it?"

But as he opened and closed his massive hand, reality crept in.

"No... none of this is real." Disappointment tinged his voice. "I still have no idea where I am."

Despite his immense size, many of the plants still towered far above him.

With nothing better to do, he chose to keep growing.

Sitting cross-legged, he opened his mouth once more. Nature poured into him, his form radiating an even deeper shade of green with every passing second. His hair, his eyes, his very skin pulsed with an unearthly vitality.

His growth continued without stopping.

Within his body, a grassy hill began to take shape. At first, it was merely a patch of earth, but it soon expanded into a full-blown hill spanning several kilometers.

Time flowed like a river.

Ged continued to grow, his consciousness now entirely green, his essence fully entwined with nature. His mind hummed with the whispers of the wind, his breath carried the gentle song of the earth.

When he finally opened his eyes, his form had transformed. Tiny vines intertwined like veins across his skin, giving him the appearance of a hermit god.

Yet, something was wrong.

His growth had stagnated.

He had outgrown even the tallest trees, consuming all the nature within reach. There was no longer enough to sustain his incredible pace of expansion.

But with his increased height, a different world unfolded before him.

The horizon stretched endlessly.

Surrounding him were colossal structures of various shapes. Some were abstract, while others resembled enlarged versions of everyday objects. If one could imagine it, it existed in some form within this strange world.

He no longer felt as awe inspiring as he once did.

Then, something caught his attention.

A towering red mountain.

It surged toward the sky at an impossible rate, its peak vanishing the moment his eyes tried to track it.

The sight unsettled him.

Despite an incredible amount of growth, he now felt small in comparison to the towering structures around him. Imperfections in his muscles, once invisible, became glaringly clear.

His physique was not as perfect as he thought.

The closer he came to true perfection, the more unattainable it seemed.

"I still have a long way to go," he muttered, his head hanging low.

But then he looked toward the red mountain. "Is that it? Is that what I am looking for?"

Something about the mountain's relentless growth intrigued him.

Wanting to understand its secret, he strode toward its base.

Beside the mountain stood a fractal tree, its branches splitting into infinite pathways. Its imposing figure dwarfed Ged, towering hundreds of times his size.

As he passed beneath its limbs, a rustling stirred.

Ged halted, his gaze narrowing as a shadow moved within the depths of the tree.

Silence followed.

Raising an eyebrow, he shook it off and continued towards the mountain.

Then, it leapt.

With a thunderous crash, a golden, scimitar-wielding beaver landed before him, the earth trembling beneath its weight. Its menacing glare locked onto Ged, its blade gleamed as it stood defiantly in his path, daring him to take another step.